I found out early on Election Day that Mitt Romney wouldn’t become our next president. I called my father, and he answered sounding somber. He told me that, based on early polling numbers, he didn't see a foreseeable way for Romney to pull it off. There’s a very specific tone of voice my father uses to deliver bad news, and I flashed back to 2008. Still, I must have been in denial, because I pointed out that Ohio and Florida hadn’t been called yet, and we all know that elections are decided in Ohio! My father just sighed and said, “Honey, I’m sorry.” I started to choke back tears.

There was no reason for me to have such an emotional reaction to Romney’s loss. It’s not like he’s a close friend. Looking back to last week, I think that I was mourning something else. For the last four years, writing on this website, I’ve been calling for the Republican Party to come to terms with reality and modernize. Last Tuesday, Mitt Romney lost—and he lost big. As Republicans, we lost again. I felt sad, exhausted, beaten down, and heartbroken. It was the first time that I considered that the Republican Party, which I love so much, might die.

I know there are many out there, especially in the more conservative sphere, that regard me with disdain. I don’t fit into the traditional Republican box that the wingnuts who have hijacked my party think all Republicans should.... [MORE]

What an awesome map! A great resource for teaching kids history- and making it simple to understand, as well as interactive. Can be used in conjunction with the 'Protest Sites' map I scooped above; in a unit on protests and change around the world.

I think it links to most areas of Humanities, which is cool. I showed it to some of the kids from placement and they loved it!

"One of the greatest facets of reddit are the thriving subreddits, niche communities of people who share a passion for a specific topic. One of the Sifter’s personal favourites is r/ColorizedHistory. The major contributors are a mix of professional and amateur colorizers that bring historic photos to life through color."

This is fascinating for a number of reasons, firstly; in these days of digital photography where the default is 'colour' many photographers choose to convert their images to Black and White in order to create a mood or make visual statements. Although the images used in the piece will be Copyrighted - Flickr Commons http://www.flickr.com/commons offers a wealth of B&W images from museums around the world with 'no known copyright restrictions'. These could be used for all manner of educational and creative projects using colorising techniques.

This survey by the Public Religion Research Institute and Governance Studies at Brookings examines Americans' views on capitalism, government, economic policy, and financial well-being.

It found that Americans are concerned about the lack of jobs (26% cited this as the most important economic issue), the budget deficit (17%), and the rising cost of health care (18%) and education (9%). Overall, they are pessimistic about what the future holds. A majority (54%) believes that hard work and determination are no guarantee of success and, perhaps more alarming, a majority (52%) also believes their generation is better off financially than the next generation will be. MORE

I believe in egalitarian society. There should not be very big disparity between rich and poor, have's and have not's. If not balanced, I mean the differences, it might on the long run may amount to fight / may be civil war.

The movement to significantly rein in surveillance by the National Security Agency began on the political fringes but has built up support from Republican and Democratic leaders.

...Then Mr. Sensenbrenner, a Republican veteran and one of the primary authors of the post-Sept. 11 Patriot Act, stepped to a microphone on the House floor. Never, he said, did he intend to allow the wholesale vacuuming up of domestic phone records, nor did his legislation envision that data dragnets would go beyond specific targets of terrorism investigations. “The time has come to stop it, and the way we stop it is to approve this amendment,” Mr. Sensenbrenner said.

Depending on whom you ask, Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., represents either the best or the worst of the Republican Party.

He's everything that's wrong with the GOP - a living, breathing impediment to the rebranding effort Republicans are undergoing in in the wake of the 2012 election.

That, or he's a profile in courage, and exactly the kind of passionately conservative lawmaker the GOP needs to stir up enthusiasm among a base that has become deeply skeptical of the party's leadership.... MORE

Finding Materials: This site is designed for geography students and teachers to find interesting, current supplemental materials. To search for place-specific posts, browse this interactive map. To search for thematic posts, see http://geographyeducation.org/thematic/ (organized by the APHG curriculum). Also you can search for a keyword by clicking on the filter tab above.

Staying Connected: You can receive post updates in the way that best fits how you use social media.

When Anum Hussain heard about the Boston Marathon bombing, she immediately panicked, worried that the culprits would be like her. The 22-year-old Muslim was in the offices of Hubspot, the Cambridge marketing-software company she works for. As her coworkers frantically rushed to call loved ones who'd been out watching the marathon that day, she was glued to the TV, fearing what she might learn about potential suspects. “My heart was beating fast, just praying that this person didn't turn out to be Muslim,” she recalled. “I knew that if they were, all hell was going to break loose.”

Her concern was warranted. That same afternoon, on the Boston subway, a second-year Muslim student at Northeastern University who wears a headscarf phoned her parents to report her safety; as she spoke to them in Arabic, a stranger pushed her so hard she fell to the ground. Later, one of Anum’s male acquaintances, someone with brown skin, was riding the MBTA when he realized that he was weirdly alone—all the other passengers on his car had moved away from him, as if he was a threat. Two mornings later in Malden, a town of about 60,000 that’s five miles away from Cambridge, a 26-year-old Syrian woman in a headscarf was walking down a main street, pushing her nine-month-old daughter in a stroller, when an angry man punched her in the shoulder, cursed "Fuck you Muslims," and screamed, “You are terrorists, you are the ones who made the Boston explosion."

These incidents happened before two Muslim suspects had been identified... MORE

Taking into account all debts, the US is said to be in the hole to the amount of $16.9 trillion. University of California, San Diego economics professor James Hamilton has laid other claims as of late, though, going on record recently to estimate the real debt owed by the US is closer to a staggering $70 trillion.

Often times I find it hard to think of history as simply a recolection of time. Youspend your childhood looking at timelines and learning history linearly you often forget that this is not the case. I found this work to be very asthetically pleasing and helpful as well.

Often times I find it hard to think of history as simply a recolection of time. Youspend your childhood looking at timelines and learning history linearly you often forget that this is not the case. I found this work to be very asthetically pleasing and helpful as well.

In March, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. jumped into the debate over genetically engineered foods, becoming the first U.S. company to post labels on its website to let customers know which of its menu items contained GMO ingredients.

Although President Obama has been Mr. Bernanke’s partner in an effort to steer the economy through a financial crisis, deep recession and recovery, so was the man who put Mr. Bernanke in the job in the first place: Mr. Bush.

“Ben Bernanke, along with George Bush and Barack Obama, saved us from another Great Depression,” said Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, echoing the views of others in his party. “Twenty years from now, that’s what history will say about all three of them.”

I show this picture to my classes with the simple prompt: this was a major figure in U.S. history in the first half of the 20th century. Most pick female historical figures and are startled to find out that it was a revered president. This slideshow demonstrates the cultural shift over time that has led to gendered norms on dress in the United States. This article is quite compelling.

Last spring I learned about poverty in a way that neither extreme really cares about.

My wife and I drove from Louisville, Kentucky to Asheville, North Carolina, traveling down what William Least Heat-Moon calls “blue highways.” We told our GPS to ignore major roads and she (we call the disembodied directioneer “Becky”) took us from small town to small town through rural Kentucky and Tennessee.

Immigration and 'immigrants' are getting the same treatment in politics and in the public discourse. Unlike poor white Americans, however, the current generation of immigrants and their progeny don't seem to have very much interest in supporting the GOP. Oh, to have a time machine to bump ahead just 50 or 100 years and after decades of white minority status in America (http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-201_162-6284387.html).

Mark Sanfordis heading back to Washington after detours along the Appalachian Trail and Argentina.

The former South Carolina governor finished his second term in office three years ago with his political career dead in the water thanks to a well-publicized extra-marital affair and ethics violations. But he came away Tuesday with a victory over Democratic opponent Elizabeth Colbert Busch in the special election for a vacant House seat in the Palmetto State's 1st Congressional District -- the same seat he once held.

From the start of his bid for Congress, Sanford was vey open on the campaign trail about the affair and made it the subject of his first TV ad. Sanford asked for, and received, political redemption from the voters.... read the full list HERE

Sharing your scoops to your social media accounts is a must to distribute your curated content. Not only will it drive traffic and leads through your content, but it will help show your expertise with your followers.

Integrating your curated content to your website or blog will allow you to increase your website visitors’ engagement, boost SEO and acquire new visitors. By redirecting your social media traffic to your website, Scoop.it will also help you generate more qualified traffic and leads from your curation work.

Distributing your curated content through a newsletter is a great way to nurture and engage your email subscribers will developing your traffic and visibility.
Creating engaging newsletters with your curated content is really easy.